Dayton Moore has pushed all his chips in and is riding on King/Jack suited, hoping it comes together, he gets some good luck, and he hits the nuts by the river card. There's potential, oh yes, there's potential. There's also risk.

At the midway point, Dayton is left counting on the river card. The flop and turn didn't help him, and he's looking at the Tigers holding a pair of Queens and the Indians holding a pair of 9s. His 2013 plan hasn't failed - yet - but the odds are not in his favor.

Burning questions updates below.

Burning Questions for 2013:

1) Will the improve rotation be improved enough? Does James Shields pitch like a fringe No. 1 away from Tampa Bay? Does Ervin Santana pitch to his highest upside in his walk year? Can Jeremy Guthrie build on his strong performance as a Royal in 2012? Can Wade Davis bring his new mentality- and velocity - back to the rotation?

Midseason check-in: Yes, the rotation is certainly improved enough. Shields has pitched like a fringe No. 1 and Santana is having his best season. Guthrie has horrible peripherals but has continued to perform well at his home park and eat innings on the road. Davis brought neither his kick-ass mentality or improved velocity back to the rotation and is in Luke Hochevar/Hiram Davies territory.

2) When will Luke Hochevar be shown the door?Midseason check-in: It appears, never, at this point. Hochevar has been solid in non-leverage situations, though pretty much every time he has been used with men on base in an inning, it has been a disaster.

3) Does Hosmer bounce back?Midseason check-in: It took some time, but Hosmer's performance from June 1 on is probably the most encouraging thing about the 2013 season so far.
4) Can Moustakas hit for a whole season like he did in the first half of 2012?Midseason check-in: Nope. Moustakas was god-awful, then great for about 3 weeks, then god-awful again. He has been better since he started working with Brett and Grafol but still has a long way to go.
5) Who regresses? Midseason check-in: Welp, Alicides Escobar is not a surprising name here (though Yost's stubborn insistence on hitting him second is ridiculous). Billy Butler is a surprise. He isn't having a terrible year - still contributing a lot to the offense - but he's not hitting for the average or power he has displayed over the past several years.
6) Who plays 2B?Midseason check-in: A whole bunch of people, and not that great. Gio is at least getting a shot, though he once again is not doing much with it.
7) Can Jeff Francoeur be at least replacement level, rather than epic horrible level?Midseason check-in: Hahahahahahahahahahaha
8) Will Dayton Moore survive to see 2014?Midseason check-in: Outlook uncertain. Probably still around, unless the team completely tanks in the second half and he does something foolish. My guess - he sacrifices Ned Yost this offseason and gets one more shot with a new manager in 2014.
9) Will Danny Duffy come back healthy? And if he does, is he the same, better or worse?Midseason check-in: Yes. Velocity looks the same, and it looks likely he is the same guy as before.
10) And the big one: Has KC added enough to run down the big-money Detroit Tigers?Midseason check-in: Doesn't look like it, does it?

Okay, moving on to my next silly hypothetical trade offer that is essentially impossible.

Allen Craig and his shiny new team friendly contract for Kelvin Herrera and Tim Collins?

Craig would get Frenchy off the field. I know it would come at a hell of a cost, but Craig's a legitimate middle of the order hitter that's stepped up huge in WS play and makes $6 million/season for the next 5 seasons.

Craig will give you at least what Myers would've been likely to give you over the next 5 seasons, so if you look at replacing Myers with Craig, the trade becomes James Shields for Herrera and Collins.

Okay, moving on to my next silly hypothetical trade offer that is essentially impossible.

Allen Craig and his shiny new team friendly contract for Kelvin Herrera and Tim Collins?

Craig would get Frenchy off the field. I know it would come at a hell of a cost, but Craig's a legitimate middle of the order hitter that's stepped up huge in WS play and makes $6 million/season for the next 5 seasons.

Craig will give you at least what Myers would've been likely to give you over the next 5 seasons, so if you look at replacing Myers with Craig, the trade becomes James Shields for Herrera and Collins.

The guy has been criminally underrated his entire career. You'll be hard pressed to find a CFer that played the position better than he did that was also a 300 HR, 300 SB player.

He's just done everything so smoothly his whole career that it's hard to appreciate just how well he's done it.

Carlos Beltran is one of the most preternaturally gifted players you'll ever see play. I'd have given anything to see him steer clear of NY for those years and stay healthy. Had he stayed in Houston, he'd have done some amazing things statistically and he'd have been right in the middle of some great Astros teams through middle of the decade. He'd have possibly won a WS in 2005.

I was just commenting today during the Cardinals game that when Beltran is 80 and in a walker, he'll still have top-shelf bat whip. The guy's wrists just slash the bathead through the hitting zone and create some of the sweetest, easiest power you'll find.

If he'd have been a life-long Royal, he'd have challenged Brett as the greatest player in Royals history.